Hello

Apr 13 Days 1, 2 & 3: New York Taxis are Tame!

Day 1: The flight from Chicago to Hong Kong was LONG but uneventful. We watched SEVERAL movies and visited with the people around us. When we got tired of visiting with the people around us, we watched more movies. It was a vicious cycle and my eye twitches at the thought of doing it again on the flight home...with a baby. No offense Little Love but I have traveled plenty with your siblings and know what happens at the 4-5 hr mark. When Rosie was your age she pooped or puked on every flight and Jack..well Jack is Jack! He still likes to to touch the people in front of him, stand in his seat and and often throw things in the aisle. He isn't being naughty... instead I like to say he is working for laughs. I once covered him head to toe in stickers because I knew it would keep him occupied for at least 15 minutes trying to take them all off. The flight attendant thought it was a stroke of genius..I think it was a moment of desperation!

Day 2: We arrived in Hong Kong and checked into the hotel around 10:30pm. We were both exhausted so we took a quick shower, called our families and hit the hay. Apparently 26 hours of flying and driving is my official limit. D slept like a baby. I, on the other hand, snagged just a couple hours of sleep. Uggh. My body is set to INDIANA time and I am working hard to adjust to the 12hr time difference. The upside..I can see how my little peanut will feel when she converts to a new time zone.

Day 3: Dennis and I couldn't wait to explore Hong Kong and were chomping at the bit around 6am. We ate breakfast (bao-steamed buns and dumpling soup) at the hotel and took off on foot. We knew from looking at the map that we were close to the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Shatin. Our city tour wasn't scheduled to begin for a few more hours and not being one to shy away from a challenge, we set out on an adventure. After checking out the local seven-eleven (tortoise jelly, anyone?) we ended up on campus. It was beautiful and the college kids were fluent in English and happy to speak with us. We found a fascinating Koi hatchery and took a tour of the crescent pond nature habitat. The most amazing thing however was the campus itself. It is literally built up the side of a mountain making it only accessible by a series of very steep stairs and escalators.

The "official" Hong Kong tour was arranged by the adoption agency and gave us a great overview of the city. We visited "The Peak," took a sampan ride through the fisherman's village and checked out the beaches of Hong Kong. No tour would be complete without a little shopping at a street market. After the tour we ended the day by taking in the light show at Victoria Harbour and eating some delicious local food. We arrived back to the hotel after an insanely fun and fast taxi ride...seriously, these guys put New York cabbies to shame!